


Worm Food

by Hexiva



Category: Legion (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, David is a Billionaire AU, Human/Parasite Relationships, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 09:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19809862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hexiva/pseuds/Hexiva
Summary: David the billionaire comes back to his office one day, to find a stranger in his chair.





	Worm Food

When David Haller comes back from his latest meeting, there’s a man in his office.

David’s eyes narrow. He is the richest man in the world, and he has state-of-the-art security.  _ No one  _ should be in here without his permission.

“Oh, hello!” says the man. He has tanned skin, black hair with streaks of white and big, dark eyes ringed in bags. He’s wearing a cream-colored leisure suit over a salmon-colored shirt, and sporting a black beard with two stripes of white on either side of his full mouth. And he’s sitting in David’s chair, behind David’s desk. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I didn’t  _ invite  _ you in,” David says, coldly. He brings the full weight of his icy blue gaze on the intruder. Most people cower when he does this. But to his surprise, his attempt at intimidation meets sharp psychic resistance. David frowns, hesitates. This man is powerful. Paid off by his enemies, perhaps? An assassin?

“Oh, I invited myself in,” the man says, carelessly. He’s looking around David’s office, admiring the expensive paintings, the big picture windows overlooking the pool, the balcony. “Nice place you’ve got here.”   
  
“Why are you here?” David demands, taking a step forward. He doesn’t suffer fools easily. 

The man looks up, as if faintly surprised by David’s rancor. “Why am I here? Oh - oh - it’s on the tip of my tongue - it’s - ah!” He nods. “I remember. I’m here to save your life.”

David’s eyebrows go straight up. A sharp amusement bubbles up from something inside of him, and he cracks a smile. “I didn’t know my life  _ needed  _ saving. From what? The evils of wealth? Don’t worry - I’m right with my God.”

“Hmm? No, no. Nothing like that. I’m not a religious man.” The man is shaking his head. “I’m more of a man of science. Reason. And all that jazz.”

“So you’re going to save my life with science?” David pulls out a chair and sits, in front of his own desk. “How’s that going to work?”

“You’ve got a - mmm - I’m not sure what the word is. A passenger. A persona. A - that’s right.” The man nods, as if finding the word at last. “You’ve got a parasite, friend.”

David frowns. The man is obviously insane.  _ There but for the grace of God go I,  _ he thinks. “Like a tapeworm, you mean?”

“A tapeworm. Yes. Something like that. Or a, a monster. Or like . . .” The man tilts his head and tries to think of a comparison. “Or like me, I suppose. You. Us. Like us.”

“Are you saying I’m like a tapeworm?” David says, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes, I suppose you are,” the man says. “I suppose all of us are, you know. Reading minds. Stealing thoughts.”

“Us,” David repeats, watching the man’s face. “You mean, psychics.”

“Yes! Yes, that’s us. You know what you are - don’t you?” 

“Something like that,” David allows. “And this parasite? How do you know I have it, anyway?”

“I saw it,” the man says. “At one of your speeches. I turned up to see what you had to say. But then I saw the, the cloud. The monster.” The man leans in, his eyes intense. “I can see the tendrils behind your eyes. The claws digging into your brain. It’s eating you from the inside out . . .”

“Really,” David says, lifting his grey eyebrows.

“Yes. You must be feeling it by now. It’s been in you for a long time, hasn’t it? Even the humans must be seeing it by now . . . you’re getting tired.”

“Middle age will do that to you,” David says, flippant. He stands up. “I think we’re done here, Mr, uh - ” He lazily fishes through the intruder’s brain. “Mr. Bird. Security!”

“You don’t believe me,” Bird says, as David’s security guards come tromping in and drag him to his feet.

David smiles, and says nothing.

As Bird is dragged out, the man seems to slip the guards’ grasp. He steps back to the desk and grabs David’s shoulder. “It’s killing you,” he says, flatly. “It’s eating up your soul until there won’t be anything left of you. And if you don’t find a way to stop it soon, you’re going to die.”

David holds up a hand to stop the guards for a moment. He leans in to whisper into Bird’s ear. “Want to know a secret?” he whispers. “All that stuff about the parasite, the monster, the thing that’s eating me alive?” He cocks his head, grinning. “The secret is,  _ I know.  _ I know. And I don’t care.”

He pulls back, not giving Bird a chance to respond, and gestures to his guards. “Take him away. Put him in one of the holding cells.”

“Should we call the police?” asks his head of security.

“Mmm, maybe in a week or two,” David says, carelessly. “If he’s still alive by then.”

As he’s dragged off, the intruder seems more disappointed than afraid. “I came here to help you, you know,” he says, disapprovingly.

“I know,” David says. “But you came here to hurt  _ him.  _ And I can’t allow that.”

Afterwards, he’s alone in his office. He stares out the window, feeling grey and tired. 

Arms slide themselves around his waist, and pull him close. David leans back into the arms of his parasite, shutting his eyes. He thinks of the way that man described Farouk - as something frightening, disgusting, horrifying. David still has the awareness to understand why that is, to understand what Farouk is and what he’s doing to David. But he doesn’t care anymore. All the money, the power, the fame - they mean nothing to him. Farouk gives him the only thing he really craves - love. He will pay any price for that. 

David turns around in Farouk’s arms, and kisses him, lightly, his eyes still shut. “You’re mine,” he says. “I’m not going to let him take you away from me.” His arms wrap around Farouk, holding him tight.

“Never,” Farouk promises, letting his chin rest on David’s shoulder. He has grown strong and healthy and powerful, feeding off of David’s soul. “I will never leave you,  _ joonam.” _

David knows that he is standing alone in his office, holding empty space. And he knows, on some level, that Bird was right - Farouk is killing him. He can feel it, the weakness in his bones, the shadows under his eyes, the grey flatness in his heart. But right now, he’s warm, and Farouk’s arms are around him, and he is  _ loved.  _ He knows he should be afraid. But he can’t remember how to. 


End file.
